All posts tagged Angela Ahrendts

The growth of Burberry’s iconic trenchcoats is more than a little wrapped up in its tight-knit and high profile executives, namely chief executive Angela Ahrendts, chief financial officer Stacey Cartwright and chief creative director Christopher Bailey.

Ms. Cartwright is stepping down later this year and along with her replacement, insider Carol Fairweather, Burberry is adding another executive to its inner circle. In March former BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith will switch from his current non-executive director role at the group to an executive post as chief operations officer, a newly created role that the company hopes will tap into his financial, marketing and international experience.

Specifically, Burberry is keen to leverage Mr. Smith’s experience with global brand expansion and speed up an already fast-moving digital strategy. He’ll also be able to steer the group’s soon to be in-house beauty division which Burberry hopes to expand to the levels of other fashion houses like Chanel and Christian Dior.

While the company’s strategy is unlikely to change, “Burberry has simply become a much bigger company and given significant changes and opportunities ahead (such as the new beauty division or the termination of the Japanese apparel licensing in 2015), the newly created COO position should be seen as a natural development for the group,” Credit Suisse analysts said in a note to clients Thursday.

Morgan Stanley’s retail experts believe the new position will be taken positively by investors “as it suggests operational review and scope for efficiency gains.”